Is Barcelona, Spain a good choice for retirement, any 'specs' from others as to budget needed?

Question

Am planning to relocate to Spain, am dual citizen, 55, have small fixed income to work with, only about $2000 (US) a month; I use a bicycle and live near beaches, wish to do same there, also I have a small dog, a chihahua of course! Does anyone have advices regards ANYTHING; Altho I'd describe my health as 'good enough' -- it's not good enough to allow me an advance trip - I use acupuncture as my main medical source. Been 25 years since I visited Spain, Madrid and Seville only for several days each, as well as go through south of Spain for Morocco, that was a LONG time ago, but, I've spent 3 months in Greece in '02 and 6 months in Italy (06-07), and as might be expected, the money is now the worst issue for me.

Thoughts on the things mentioned would be appreciated, as well as any other advices, ideas or opinions!

Answer 1

$2000 US is about 1500€ at the current exchange rate.... For one person to live on that is an acceptable amount, as it is equivalent to a normal spanish salary. Evidently it is not a LOT of money, but if you live a simple life you should be ok.

Barcelona is a great place to live, lots of cultural events, places worth visiting, etc... I travel there often as we have family in the area. It IS however, the most expensive city in Spain. The province of Barcelona followed by Girona are the two with highest expense levels of the whole country.  The least expensive areas are evidently the inland provinces such as Cuenca, Soria or Cáceres...(but none of us really want to live there!).  :-)

You haven't specified if you are going to purchase or rent your lodgings. This also is important. A rental on the coastal areas can be expensive for a small budget. Depends also on your needs...if a studio apartment is big enough for you, or you need more space. (Check out spanish realty for references to prices, there are lots of websites, most in spanish and english).

If you don't specifically want Barcelona, I would suggest La Manga del Mar Menor in the province of Murcia, south of Alicante, it is still in development, and not as high priced as Catalonia.

We live in Malaga, tourist and pensioners paradise...on the southern andalusian coast. Also a great place to live.  (I've been here 36 years!)

Another place that is excellent is Huelva, on the atlantic coast, west of Cádiz. It is also developing now, and the rental prices are a good third lower than the mediterranean coastal areas.

Your dog will pose no problem, as long as it has its papers and vaccinations up to date...

Spanish national health service is fairly efficient, however if you are not coming from a european union country, you will need private health insurance. (For the EU countries all you need is a Nº 121 form filled out in your country of origin). There are also many alternative sevices such as acupuncture, but these are all private, and prices vary.

You haven't mentioned food.... But as you can imagine, Spain is a country of great cooks...the food is excellent, produce is of great quality and varied, from veggies, to fruit, meat, fish and fowl.

Greece, for the moment, is still less expensive than Spain, and Italy is more expensive. So you already have an idea of those...

If you have more questions, you can e-mail me directly thru YA! I'll try to answer them for you...